Michael.

We were asked about a movie scene which we consider as powerful. One which made an aesthetic – and emotional – impact. One whose images lingered long after we’ve watched it. Immediately I saw this:It’s the part during the trial verdict when the judge announces Hanna’s life sentence. I’ve watched the film 3 or 4 times now, and it gets me all teary-eyed every single time. Without fail.

There’s another clip earlier in the film that also stayed with me ever since. The one where the survivor’s daughter reveals how Hanna had her ‘preferences’ when selecting who to be, well, killed.

(Scene: 07.19-09.30) The editing here obviously helped create the effects. First, the camera allows me to walk with Michael as he reenters the courtroom. Then the eyeline match comes into play, and instead of just walking with him, I now essentially become him, looking at the each of the defendants as the lady identifies them.  While she explains how Hanna chose young girls to read to her, Michael – and hence, I – looks at Hanna. That particular POV makes both of ‘us’ shudder; she did to ‘us’ what she did to those helpless children. The atmosphere gets so intense that sometimes I feel myself almost choking, drowning even.

The Reader’s cinematography is perhaps what drew many of its audience to empathize with Michael and Hanna. Oh, and not forgetting the extraordinary soundtrack by Nico Muhly. The movie’s mysterious, melancholic, and above all, it’s haunting. Yes, haunting. Long after the end credits finish rolling, I still taste his heartache, confusion, guilt. ‘Cause they are mine, too.

No Smoke Without Fire

Earlier we had our first screening for the semester comprising of two short films. The first one, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was alright; the second was the highlight.

The class reaction immediately after Nacht und Nebel was typical. Predictable. After all, we just witnessed 30 minutes of absolute inhumanity with corpses pushed by bulldozers, human hair weaved into cloths for sale, and people being gassed by virtue of “blood impurity”. I know what I was supposed to feel after watching the documentary, but I also know what I actually feel.

“I wanted simultaneously to understand Hanna’s crime and to condemn it. But it was too terrible for that. When I tried to understand it, I had the feeling I was failing to condemn it as it must be condemned. When I condemned it as it must be condemned, there was no room for understanding. But even as I wanted to understand Hanna, failing to understand her meant betraying her all over again. I could not resolve this. I wanted to pose myself both tasks – understanding and condemnation. But it was impossible to do both.”  -The Reader

Of course there’s no one Hanna in my case, but the above lines sums up my thoughts. I mean, whenever one looks at the Third Reich, it’s easy to accuse the Nazis as being immoral and brutal and the list goes on. But just try to look a tad bit further back in history and one’ll (probably) see the various incidents forming a chain reaction; the end product? The Holocaust.

I don’t know when or how or why I started having this peculiar fondness of German history. But neither is it something I’d readily discuss about; the last thing I wish for to happen is to come across as a sympathizer.